The Malik Report

Tomorrow, the Grand Rapids Griffins will head to Syracuse, New York to begin to prepare for a hopefully Calder Cup-clinching Game 6 of their AHL Final series against the Syracuse Crunch (Game 6 will take place on Tuesday and an if-necessary Game 7 would take place on Thursday, with both games held at the Onecenter War Memorial Arena).

As the Griffins attempt to rebound from losses in Games 4 and 5, they won't have to repeat their 12-plus-hour bus ride around Lake Erie's southern shore and into Upstate New York in a pair of sleeper buses (and it should be noted that the Crunch spent Saturday night and Sunday morning busing back to Syracuse).

According to the Grand Rapids Press's Peter J. Wallner, the Griffins will traverse the 480-or-so miles between "GR" and Syracuse in a little over an hour thanks to an assist from the Red Wings:

The Grand Rapids Griffins have received approval from the Detroit Red Wings organization to fly Monday to Syracuse on the Red Wings charter place, assistant general manager Ryan Martin confirmed.

The Griffins, who were given Sunday off following Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Crunch, will depart 10 a.m. and are expected to practice late Monday at War Memorial Arena in Syracuse.

The vast majority of these players have played somewhere close to 80 regular-season games and almost 20 playoff games. It’s about reducing wear and tear whenever possible now, and cutting a 12-hour commute down to a 90-minute one changes the equation significantly.

About The Malik Report

The Malik Report is a destination for all things Red Wings-related. I offer biased, perhaps unprofessional-at-times and verbose coverage of my favorite team, their prospects and developmental affiliates. I've joined the Kukla's Korner family with five years of blogging under my belt, and I hope you'll find almost everything you need to follow your Red Wings at a place where all opinions are created equal and we're all friends, talking about hockey and the team we love to follow.